Collaborative Research: Relative Controls of Niche vs. Neutral Microbial Community Assembly Processes Over Ecosystem Function Post-Disturbance

合作研究：生态位与中性微生物群落组装过程对扰乱后生态系统功能的相对控制

• 批准号: 1656978
• 负责人: Steven Schmidt
• 金额: $ 22.61万
• 依托单位: University of Colorado at Boulder
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-06-30 至 2019-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1656978&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Relative; Controls; Niche

Is it necessary to know what types of microbes are present in a system in order to understand and predict ecosystem processes? This is a fundamental, yet unanswered, question. This project will address hypotheses regarding the relationship between community assembly processes, environmental parameters and ecosystem functioning following a disturbance. Soil microbial community structure and function will be tracked in soils at various times after forest fires. Phylogenetic and genomic approaches will be employed to explore the factors controlling how microbial communities develop, and the relative roles of different controls in structuring microbial communities. This work will also focus on describing the temporal and spatial dynamics of the well-documented changes in nitrogen cycling that are observed following wildfires. This research is expected to build a better understanding of the contributions of microbial community structuring to these important soil processes. This study will focus on how soil communities recover from burning at a time when fire frequency and severity are escalating across the American West. The project will also facilitate the development and refinement of new bioinformatics approaches to analyze the large data sets required to study the dynamics of complex microbial communities. Broader impacts include the training of graduate students and a post-doctoral scholar, and the development of a course to integrate undergraduates directly into the planned research. Additionally, outreach will be conducted at a local high school with a high proportion of at-risk students.

是否有必要知道系统中存在哪些类型的微生物以了解和预测生态系统过程？ 这是一个基本但没有解决的问题。该项目将解决有关社区组装过程，环境参数和生态系统在骚乱之后运作的假设。 森林大火后的不同时间，土壤微生物群落的结构和功能将在土壤中追踪。系统发育和基因组方法将采用来探索控制微生物社区发展方式的因素，以及不同控制在结构微生物群落中的相对作用。 这项工作还将着重描述野火后观察到的氮循环变化的时间和空间动力学。预计这项研究将更好地了解微生物群落对这些重要土壤过程的贡献。这项研究将集中于土壤社区如何从遍布整个美国西部的火灾频率和严重程度上升的时候如何从燃烧中恢复过来。该项目还将促进新的生物信息学方法的开发和完善，以分析研究复杂微生物群落动态所需的大型数据集。 更广泛的影响包括对研究生的培训和博士后学者，以及将本科生直接整合到计划的研究中的课程的发展。 此外，将在一所当地高中进行外展活动，其中有很高的高危学生。